Over Avenging ?

I'm a heretic. I'm strange. I'm out of sync with modern ... hype ?

Went to see the latest Avengers movie tonight. This one has the hype machine working overtime ... But I think there's a lesson there too.

Make your own mind about things ! Don't go with the herd. Keep an open mind and make your own evaluation of what you're seeing. I suspect a lot of the people who see Avengers 2 will be wowed by it, partly because the hype machine is telling them they should be. Us humans are very good at following the rest of that herd.

I guess you can tell I wasn't overly thrilled by Avengers 2. Yes. It has the big booms, the explosions, loads of laser shots going everywhere. Hawkeye is allowed to be awesome. (He gets the chance to actually be a character instead of being more wooden than his arrows).

But I was disappointed ? Yep. So far this year I've seen (and I may miss some things out) :

Ex Machina - lots of thinks in this film. It keeps you guessing all the way through, who is telling the truth, who is being honest. Really enjoyed this one.
Big Hero 6 - film of the year so far. It had the booms but most important, it had a lovely story and engaging characters. One to enjoy as a feel good film.
Jupiter Ascending - was far more epic than Avengers 2. Rubbish story but it looked amazing. Kinda surprised that I haven't erased it from memory yet. It was pretty awful.

And I know I've missed a few films off that list. (Hobbit 3 counts as last year and had the best mass battle sequences).

So there we go - Avengers 2. Half heartedly covers the battles, misses out on the feels and telegraphs pretty much everything. The first Iron Man was exceptional, the first Avengers was pretty good too. Winter Soldier was outstanding. But the rest have been, honestly, much of a muchness. Guardians of the Galaxy was great because it carried humour all the way through. And it had Groot and Rocket who stole the show.

But. What's more important than going to the cinema ?

Going to the cinema with friends !!!

I'll sit through anything to be with friends. (I'll freely admit that I watched Twilight - and Kristen Stewart was more wooden than Hawkeye's arrows). Friends are awesome. As well as being friends, with things like Avengers 2, they validate your opinion when you come out. Didn't like it ? I didn't like it either !

Perhaps this franchise is running out of steam. It'll still make a tonne of cash for Marvel and there will be sequels. I'll get the bluray - but not at full price. Bit like the two Thor movies and Captain America, I waited for those to get cheap. They didn't excite the way movies Big Hero 6 did or make me think the way Ex Machina did. Or tear up the way (admittedly bad plot) Interstellar did. There is a bit near the end which should have made people sad but it's a bit of a Shrug-Don't Care moment instead.

But don't take my opinion. Make up your own. It's still a big spectacle, it's not as bad as Jupiter Ascending (which dug a massive pit) but it's not the stellar piece of awesome it's been made out to be.

Hereth ends the review.

Haha - Saying all that, I did enjoy it. Or was that because there was a big smile appearing at the end when I turned the phone back on and had a message from an amazing person. Yes - I've had a trend lately of saying Very Nice Things about a particular person and I fully intend to continue. However ill that may make you feel. Ha ! It's made me happy, made me smile and I feel it's my duty to pass on the happy feels.

I still have the I-Hurts but I'm feeling better than the fraught me of yesterday. Part of that is anticipating a heavy week to come plus I'd missed lunch which always makes me cranky. Like the Hulk tried to say (in the actually pretty good Edward Norton film) "You wouldn't like me when I'm ... hungry." Yep. On away trips, I always make sure I never get hungry while driving or it's ... Code Green.

I need a picture !

Perhaps that's appropriate here. I enjoyed Iron Man so much partly because I had very little expectations of it. As more Avengers movies come out, our expectations rise. We expect more, we expect better. Perhaps it didn't come off so well with this one. It fell a bit flat for me. Great baddie though.

Enjoyed the evening out, company was better than the movie.